Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Asia comes from a four-generation Newark family that didn’t just live in the City, but helped shape it. As a daughter of a Weequahic Indian and a South Side Bull Dog, Asia’s story isn’t about arriving in Newark to lead—it’s about pouring back into the community that has poured so much into her. Newark raised her, educated her, challenged her, and grounded her—and today, she’s raising her own son in the very same South Ward that raised her.

Education runs deep in Asia’s bloodline. Her grandmother taught at Bergen Street School and Alexander Street School. Her mother, Gerilynn Talmadge, is an educator in Newark and a proud graduate of Weequahic High School, one of Newark’s storied institutions.

Asia followed in their path—teaching at North Star: Liberty Academy and KIPP: Life Academy – and later as a Newark Board of Education Board Member, where she served two elected terms, including as Board President. Long before graduating from Rutgers Law - Newark or City Council conversations, Asia was already in service—showing up for Newark’s children and families from the inside.

Asia attended schools in and around the South Ward, including Maple Avenue Annex, Maple Avenue School, Calvary Christian School, and Link Community School—walking the same hallways, riding the same buses, and living the same realities as the families she now seeks to represent. Growing up in the South Ward, she also worked as a lifeguard through-out Newark, including St. Peter’s Pool, learning early the responsibility that comes with protecting others.

Faith and community are central to Asia’s life. She grew-up attending Union Chapel AME Church on Wainwright St and currently attends St. James AME Church in Newark and remains deeply connected to the people, blocks, school, and institutions that keep the South Ward strong.

She is the Founder and President of the Asia J. Norton Civic Association, based in the South Ward, created to uplift neighbors, engage residents, and make sure community voices are not just heard—but respected.

Today, Asia is a proud single mother raising her son in the South Ward, fully aware that many households in Newark look just like hers. That lived experience informs how she leads—with care, accountability, and urgency. She understands what it means to balance work, parenting, safety concerns, rising costs, and hope for something better, all at the same time.

On March 2, Asia announced her candidacy for South Ward City Council. Her focus is simple and people-first: safer streets, fairer taxes, and a better quality of life for families who have invested their lives here.

“I’m a life-long South Ward resident,  proud graduate of  Weequahic High School, and teacher in the South Ward.  The South Ward shaped me just like it shaped my daughter, Asia. My daughter understands the South Ward because she lives it—school by school, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. I’ve watched her grow into a woman who leads with heart and discipline. The South Ward will be in good hands with my daughter.”

Asia J. Norton is running to put the South Ward first.

She is South Ward raised and South Ward ready.

Quote from Gerilynn Talmadge, Asia’s Mother: